Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
mdAllstar, Where are all the Car dealerships going to go that are along 355 when all this development is underway?
I don't know. I assume they will relocate to a new site. The dealerships lease the space so they will just relocate to another available space. I'm not involved in the deal so I don't have any specifics. The land hasn't been sold yet so they aren't going anywhere yet.
Shady Grove Adventist could double size in new Science City | Liz Farmer | Business | Washington Examiner (http://washingtonexaminer.com/local/2011/04/shady-grove-adventist-could-double-size-new-science-city - broken link)
The hospital's plan, which is scheduled to be heard by the county Development Review Board on Monday, would add nearly 507,000 square feet to the campus, boosting the health center to a total footprint of more than 1.1 million square feet.
It proposes demolishing two secondary buildings -- the Adventist Behavioral Health building and the Broschart Building -- and constructing several new ones, including a cancer center and a new behavioral health psychiatric hospital.
The expansion, which also includes an addition to the main hospital building for more patient rooms and expanding the rehabilitation hospital, aims to broaden services and update the campus for the 21st century, said Larry Walker, Adventist's real estate adviser.
"That behavioral health building is 25 years old -- it's not the way you deliver behavioral help today," said Walker, principal of the Walker Group in Bethesda. "It needs to be done in a different form. For example, there's a lot more outpatient [programs] today. It needs to grow and change."
Walker noted that the development plan does not have a timeline as actual construction is subject to financing and approval by the Maryland Healthcare Commission.
By contrast, Johns Hopkins and Alexandria Real Estate are in a race to win approval as just 400,000 square feet of new commercial space will be allowed in Phase I of the corridor west of Interstate 270 at Montgomery Avenue.
Hopkins has amended an earlier preliminary plan to include an additional 400,000 square feet of commercial development in what will eventually be its 1.7 million-square-foot Montgomery County campus. The massive project includes building a town center at a proposed stop for the Corridor Cities Transitway at Blackwell and Broshart roads.
Alexandria Real Estate is asking for 236,000 square feet of new commercial space to support up to 700 bioscience jobs in addition to building several other research labs on its property on Medical Center Drive.
Read more at the Washington Examiner: Shady Grove Adventist could double size in new Science City | Liz Farmer | Business | Washington Examiner (http://washingtonexaminer.com/local/2011/04/shady-grove-adventist-could-double-size-new-science-city#ixzz1LA3JpdPa - broken link)
$500,000 study shows route would improve traffic congestion
A rapid bus system in Montgomery County would draw more commuters to transit and off local roads, eliminating some traffic congestion, according to a feasibility study of such a system.
The study, a portion of which was released Tuesday, revealed the so-called Bus Rapid Transit system, would increase transit ridership from 9 percent to 11 percent — pulling 85,000 drivers off the roads.
The news is encouraging for supporters of the transit line, who say Bus Rapid Transit is a good solution to many of the county's traffic woes.
Some have suggested portions of the system could be in place as soon as 2014.
The study, however, does not predict when the system could be operating. It considers its implementation and ridership in 2040 — the last year for which land-use predictions for the county are available.
County officials said this week they assume the project would be completed in phases.
The $500,000 study was completed by the county's Department of Transportation, with help from consultant Parsons Brinckerhoff and a group of interagency advisers.
A 150-mile Bus Rapid Transit system, which operates similar to light rail, would cost an estimated $2.5 billion to build and between $144 million and $173 million annually to operate, the study said.
Those costs do not include land acquisition that might be necessary for such a system.
"We're looking at some serious money here," said Councilwoman Nancy M. Floreen (D-At large) of Garrett Park. "I knew the costs were going to be high. The question is: Is this worth the investment?"
She said it remains to be seen whether the cost is worth the daily ridership.
However, Councilman Marc Elrich (D-At large) of Takoma Park, who first suggested a rapid bus system for the county, said his data shows ridership will be higher and costs will be lower.
He said he also is working with private companies that are interested in partnering with the county to fund the project. Elrich said he could not name the interested companies yet.
Al Roshdieh, deputy director of the county's Department of Transportation, said the complete study will be available soon.
An executive summary was shared with the Montgomery County Council on Tuesday.
According to the study, BRT would draw 85,000 drivers off county roads, Roshdieh said. The estimate is based on the county's options in 2040, which assume an operational Purple Line and Corridor Cities Transitway. The Purple Line is a proposed transit line from Bethesda to Prince George's County that Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) has asked the federal government to build as a light-rail project.
The Corridor Cities Transitway is a transit line from Shady Grove to Clarksburg that could accommodate either light rail or Bus Rapid Transit. The council has recommended rail, but O'Malley has not yet decided.
The county's current Ride On bus system draws about 90,000 riders each day, he said.
The study shows the need for 16 BRT routes — with more than 1,000 passengers boarding each mile on 13 of the routes.
"We are excited about the study," Roshdieh said. "And we will continue our effort to bring BRT to the county."
Council Vice President Roger Berliner (D-Dist. 1) of Potomac, who favors BRT, said the project has the support of County Executive Isiah Leggett (D), O'Malley and President Barack Obama's (D) administration.
Elrich said he is encouraged that the study shows BRT would improve overall traffic conditions in the county.
The study suggests drivers will have shorter commutes once a BRT line is built. Officials said those details will be included in the full report.
$500,000 study shows route would improve traffic congestion
A rapid bus system in Montgomery County would draw more commuters to transit and off local roads, eliminating some traffic congestion, according to a feasibility study of such a system.
The study, a portion of which was released Tuesday, revealed the so-called Bus Rapid Transit system, would increase transit ridership from 9 percent to 11 percent — pulling 85,000 drivers off the roads.
.
That doesn't seem like it is enough to make a difference.
More info: Parking is available at the corner of DeSellum and Frederick avenues and at Gaithersburg High School, 314 S. Frederick Ave.
For the better part of 82 years, the small, white shack tucked off DeSellum Avenue in Gaithersburg was the site of sleepless nights, stargazing and scientific inquiry.
From Oct. 18, 1899, to June 1982, the Gaithersburg Latitude Observatory measure the Earth's orbital wobble along with other observatories just like it around the world. The Observatory Heights landmark mostly has been closed with the exception of a few public tours since its last day of operation.
Today, it stands separate from its neighbors behind a tall, black iron fence. But on May 12, after almost three decades, it will reopen as part of a public park marking the site's history.
In the park, a concrete path runs from an entrance on DeSellum Avenue along the north latitude of 39 degrees, 8 minutes and 12 seconds — the common parallel on which all six observatories were located so their calculations would be uniform.
Along the path, the sites of the other observatories are etched in stone: Carloforte, Italy; Tschardjui, Russia; Mizusawa, Japan; Ukiah, Calif.; and Cincinnati.
The observatory was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989, earning the city a plaque marking its significance. The plaque, which had been stored at the Community Museum, now is mounted on a pedestal outside the park's gates. It is the only National Historic Landmark in the city, said Michele Potter, the city's director of Parks and Recreation and the lead organizer of the park.
A gravel path winds through the park in the shape of the Chandler Wobble, the path carved by the Earth's shimmying poles and first discovered by American astronomer Seth Carlo Chandler Jr. in 1885. To confirm Chandler's theory, the observatories were organized in 1898 by the International Latitude Service, which was renamed as the International Polar Motion Service in 1962 and ended in 1988.
The park was paid for with $232,978 in city funds and a $100,000 grant from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Conceived in 1999, it was planned by a citizen committee in 2001.
Mac Currin, the last observer to work at the site, will speak at the May 12 ribbon-cutting ceremony and give a tour of the roughly six-foot by four-foot building.
A life among the stars
Born 82 years ago in Granville County, N.C., Currin fell into a life of scientific history without having earned a college degree.
He started at age 19, traveling with U.S. Geodetic Survey field teams that measured the pull of gravity across North and South America. A cousin, John Mulchi, was the caretaker at the observatory, which also was run by the Geodetic Survey. When Mulchi decided to change jobs, the position passed to Currin.
Currin started out as an assistant to Alfred Helm, who was the lead observer from 1957 to 1976. When Helm retired, Currin took over, running the observatory alone.
Observers at the stations took measurements of 18 pairs of stars and their angles from different points each night. Observers peered through the viewfinder of an 1899 Zenith telescope each night, waiting for the precise moment when two stars would dance through the scope's viewfinder.
Their nightly visits were brief, with the stars taking anywhere from 45 to 75 seconds to move from one side of the scope to the world beyond once again.
"It was good to watch the stars," Currin said. "I find it incredible that all of these star pairs were picked and lined up to observe, and each night week after week, month after month, year after year, at just the right moment, those stars would pop into view."
Three hours after Gaithersburg, the Ukiah observatory would observe the same pair, and so the observations would travel around the globe. The nightly appearance of the stars was tracked in a notebook. Each week, Currin sent his observations to Japan, where the measurements from around the world were analyzed to determine the extent of the polar wobble.
The observers' work was done among the elements because sudden changes in temperature — such as those caused by a light bulb or small heater — would throw off the telescope's measurements. Currin's only illumination came from a flashlight; he held it high, above his ear, to quell the heat interference.
The building also was specially constructed, with slats of pine, to keep the temperature inside the same as outdoors. Each night, about an hour before the first observation, Currin would open the roof of the observatory to further even out the temperature.
On the coldest nights, Helm wore electrically heated socks, thermal underwear and thin gloves with the fingers cut away, he told the Environmental Sciences Service Administration magazine in 1967.
"It gets pretty cold in here at times," Helm said. "The temperature last winter fell to 7 degrees above zero."
The dedication of observers was unwavering. It was a job they never could be late for; the stars would not pass twice.
Over the decades, their work stopped and started because of world events. The Gaithersburg and Cincinnati observatories were closed by economic constraints during World War I, according to renderings of the observatory completed for the National Park Service in 1989. Gaithersburg reopened in 1932; the Cincinnati station permanently was shuttered.
In 1982, the Gaithersburg observatory was closed, as computers could take the same readings.
Currin retired to Adamstown, where he and his wife raise Jerusalem donkeys.
Currin said he deserves no recognition as a key player in groundbreaking science.
"I don't look at myself in that light," he said. "I was just a very, very small spoke in the wheel to all of this. Everyone had their job.
Here is the plan that was just released for the BRT system for Montgomery County with a projected 213,100-266,400 daily riders. The Montgomery Village route has been eliminated. It has been replaced with a Muncaster Mill rd. to Shady Grove route with a terminus at the metro station.
Here are the plans:
-150 stations
-16 lines
-peak headway's will be as frequent as every 2-3 minutes on the busiest corridors
-148.3 system total miles
-two-way guideway only 24 miles
-one-way guideway only 48 miles (rush hour direction)
-guideway and bus lane 27 miles
-bus lane (both direction) 1 mile
-bus lane (one direction) 7 miles
-no guideway or bus lanes 44 miles
-26 Queue Jump Intersections
-TSP 176 intersections
-367 platform stations at 150 sites (median and curb)
-209 Concrete pads
-430 total bus fleet
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
